The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Mbarara, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Equity Bank Uganda continued its initiative to support regional small and medium enterprises (SMEs) – Tupange Business Ne Equity – with a visit to the western region city of Mbarara on Thursday.
As several business leaders shared their experiences, and participants heard from Equity Bank of opportunities available to help them strengthen their hold in the market, they were reminded that “you need to work with partners with whom you can scale your business with and be able to support each other.”
Equity Bank Head of Risk Uganda Moses Nsiima who gave the business community an overview of the business environment, stressed that they should all “endeavour to keep the business records and you must continue building capacity within your family line inorder to keep the business running for generations.”
In his keynote, Prof. Alex Ariho – CEO of the African Agribusiness Incubators Network urged the Equity Bank customers to create a marketing strategy and customer segmentation. “Don’t get in love with your products and end up forgetting your customers.Associate with people who add value to you,” he said.
“We must continue learning and unlearning. The sustainability of our businesses lies in the hands of the young generation. We need to come up with models that speak to the needs of the young people.”
A panel discussion was held, with businessmen getting tips from Isaac Muzoora, certified public accountant and chairman URA tax agents, Western ugandan; Clara Tumwine from URSB and Apollo Muhumuza aka Barya – chairman business community Mbarara city.
Tumwine from URSB highlighted the role of URSB in the business community. She stated the availability of online business registration. Their main is to strengthen the business ecosystem through the various branches and one stop centers where business owners can get information and register their businesses.
Apollo Muhumuza aka Barya gave his fellow business men and women words of wisdom regarding how to handle and run a business. He further urged the bank customers to diligently utilize the funds they acquire from the Equity Bank and at the same time pay up their loan obligations. On top of that, he advised them to strategically plan when venturing into a new business.
Following the national budget reading for the financial year 2024/2025, Equity Bank Uganda launched an initiative to support regional small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Dubbed Tupange Business Ne Equity, the initiative aims to address SME challenges and provide support in crucial areas such as credit, innovation, and market access.
The Bank’s efforts to translate the complex national budget into actionable opportunities for SMEs is a significant part of this initiative. The Bank began its stakeholder engagement on June 19th in Kampala and subsequent sessions have been held in Jinja, Soroti, Lira and Mbarara with future sessions planned for Luwero.
Tupange Business Ne Equity engagement has so far reached over 600 SME proprietors across the country, offering them advisory services, improving their financial knowledge, and providing networking platforms. The meetings also aim to scale up customer engagements with the retail SME segment at the regional level.
The initiative follows the successful ‘Abakyala Ku Ntikko’ regional meetings, where Equity Bank interacted with women entrepreneurs across Uganda. The engagements align with Uganda’s growth strategy for the new financial year, which focuses on the full monetisation of Uganda’s economy through commercial agriculture, industrialization, market access and digital transformation.
“Besides offering affordable credit solutions for SMEs, we pride ourselves on guiding our customers in financial management, record keeping and helping those in need of financial advice through our free financial literacy education,” said quity Bank Managing Director Anthony Kituuka.
